The invention relates in general to car-top carriers useful in transporting various materials by automobile.
In another respect, this invention relates to an improved car-top carrier which provides weather protection for the load.
In still another respect, the invention relates to a self-loading car top carrier adapted to transport small motorized vehicles such as used by handicapped persons. It may be easily modified for use with other weighty, difficult to handle loads such as field engineering equipment or salesmen's demonstration devices.
In yet another respect, the invention relates to an improved car-top carrier utilizing a drive mechanism which may be analogized to a rack and pinion drive, but a drive which is simpler, less expensive, and which lacks the critical tolerance requirements typically associated with rack and pinion drives.
In another important respect, the invention relates to a chain hoist having a novel means for accumulating excess chain and storing it.
The prior art discloses various means for transporting loads atop an automobile. Various expedients such as simple roof racks or ingenious commercial and homemade enclosures are familiar sights. Specialized car-top carriers are also available which provide mechanically assisted means for loading the car-top carrier under the control of an operator. Many of these self-loading carriers have been designed for the assistance of the handicapped. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,823,839; 3,878,955; 4,039,096 and 4,134,509, are all representative of self-loading car top carriers which are readily utilized by handicapped persons for the convenient transportation of wheelchairs. The modern wheelchair, which may be readily stored in a small volume of space, makes such car top carriers feasible.
Many handicapped persons find it more convenient or necessary to use small motorized vehicles such as the battery-operated tricycles commercially available today or battery-powered wheelchairs. Because of their size and weight, it is generally deemed to be impractical for a handicapped person to attempt to transport such vehicles in an ordinary passenger car. Because of the battery and the drive mechanism, these vehicles reach upwards of 100 pounds or more.
It would, therefore, be highly desirable to provide a self-loading weather-protected car-top carrier adapted to easily load and transport such small motorized vehicles as may be used by handicapped persons. It would be desirable generally to provide such a car-top carrier capable of handling weights on the order of 100 pounds or more and having mechanized means for self loading such heavy, awkward loads into said car-top carrier.
Accordingly, the principal object of the invention is to provide an improved car-top carrier readily adaptable to the various motorized conveyances presently available, or to be made available, for use by handicapped persons.
Another principal object of the invention is to provide a self-loading car-top carrier which operates so simply that a handicapped person may easily control its loading and unloading.
It is a further and more specific object of the invention to provide a self-loading car-top carrier having a relatively simple, inexpensive drive mechanism not subject to burn-out if overloaded or ineptly controlled.
It is a still further and more specific object of the invention to provide a car-top carrier which is simple, rugged and economical, which can be readily installed on a conventional automobile by persons of ordinary mechanical skill.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description thereof, taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which: